Hans Bernd von Haeften
| Hans-Bernd August Gustav von Haeften | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 18, 1905 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | August 15, 1944 (aged 38) Berlin, Germany |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Known for | German Resistance |
Hans-Bernd August Gustav von Haeften (18 December 1905 – 15 August 1944) was a German jurist and member of the German Resistance against Adolf Hitler.
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Biography [edit]
Haeften was born in Berlin to Agnes (née von Brauchitsch, a relative of Walther von Brauchitsch) and Hans von Haeften, an army officer and President of the Reichsarchiv. His siblings were Elisabeth and Werner (1908–1944). After studying law, which had led him as an exchange student to Oxford University, he first found himself busy with the Stresemann Foundation, and then in 1933, he joined the Foreign Service. He worked mainly for the cultural-political department of the Foreign Office and as a cultural attaché in Copenhagen, Vienna and Bucharest.
In 1940, Haeften became the department's leader, but refused to join the Nazi Party. From 1933, he belonged to the Confessing Church. He had contacts with the Kreisau Circle, especially through Ulrich von Hassell and Adam von Trott zu Solz. He refused on religious and moral grounds to have anything to do with the attempt on Adolf Hitler's life that the Kreisau Circle was planning, but supported the attempt to overthrow Hitler and stood ready to take power at the Foreign Ministry for the plotters.
In January 1944 he stopped his brother, Werner, from shooting Hitler with a pistol with the argument that this would break the Fifth Commandment.[1]
Haeften was arrested on 23 July 1944, three days after the assassination attempt at the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, for which his brother Werner von Haeften, as Claus von Stauffenberg's adjutant, was summarily shot. On 15 August, Haeften was brought before the People's Court, where he described Hitler as "a great perpetrator of evil".[2] He was sentenced to death and hanged the same day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.
Footnotes [edit]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- Fest, Joachim (1996), Plotting Hitler's Death (translation of 'Staatsstreich: Der lange Weg zum 20 Juli'), Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-297-81774-4
- von Haeften, Barbara (1997), Nichts Schriftliches von Politik - Hans Bernd von Haeften: Ein Lebensbericht, München (C.H.Beck), ISBN 3-406-42614-X
- Hoffmann, Peter (1995), Stauffenberg (translation of 'Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg und seine Brüder'), University of Cambridge, ISBN 0-521-45307-0
Related movies [edit]
- The Restless Conscience (USA 1991)
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hans Bernd von Haeften |
- Hans Bernd von Haeften in the German National Library catalogue
- Hans-Bernd von Haeften at Jewish Virtual Library
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia. Die Gedenkstätte Plötzensee: Der 20. Juli 1944 (title translated into English: July,20 1944); 2003; p. 12–13
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia. Andreas Möckel: Zum 100. Geburtstag von Hans-Bernd von Haeften (title translated into English: 100th anniversary); Website of Kreisau-Initiative Würzburg e.V.
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia. Michael Stürmer: Barbara von Haeften: Abschied; in: Die Welt, Ausgabe April, 8 2006.
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